Plum Stubborn
by Kyandi-Akatensei
Summary: Welcome to Trenton, New Jersey, home to scum bags, jerks, trans-fats, big hair, and repeat offenders. Only one of those things appeals to 22 year old Candyce Ducaine and it's not trans-fats. Small town Texan and born ass kicker Candyce finds herself in Trenton working skips. Life isn't so easy when you throw in the locals. Rated M. Ranger/OC
1. Me and Mine

_**Summary:**_ Welcome to Trenton, New Jersey, home to scum bags, jerks, trans-fats, big hair, and repeat offenders. Only one of those things appeals to 22 year old Candyce Ducaine and it's not trans-fats. Small town Texan and born ass kicker Candyce finds herself in Trenton working skips. Life isn't so easy when you throw in the locals. Rated M. Ranger/OC

Author Note:

Hello everyone. For those of you who don't know who I am, I'm Kyandi Akatensei. I originally started out in the anime/manga section of the site but have been trying to break out of that. This is only my second story outside of that. So please be easy on me. I would love reviews and I hope you enjoy this story. I do not own the Stephanie Plum novels.

_**Chapter 1**_Me and Mine

When I was eight I use to spend most of my time at a local park where the boys were three times my size, mean and cocky as shit, and pansies when you hit them in the knee. Not a really good combination to inspire fear. Especially not when, at eight, I was the one dislocating their knee caps and making them go cry to their mothers.

Really not something to inspire fear. More like inspiring laughter. Point is I was a small, quick, and nasty little thing not above fighting dirty. Only one thing has changed since then. I'm not so small anymore. That was fourteen years ago and back when I was living in Texas. A lot of things have changed, none of which is my inclination to kicking the shit out of people and being the biggest smart ass to walk the earth.

My name is Candyce Ducaine. I'm a blend of French and Irish parents but strictly raised American. First generation too. My parents moved to America just after they married and loved it so much, they stayed. I take more after my French father then anything. Fair complexion, thin built, curves to kill, and eyes bluer then the bluest sea.

The only thing I got from my Irish mother was her natural red hair. My hair is mid back length, wavy, and, thank God, tamable. Most red heads can't claim that and I thank my father for it, since my mother's hair was frizzy curls. I currently stand about five foot, five and a half inches and am all lean muscle and curves.

The extra half inch does count too, so don't forget it. I hate that my ID says five foot, five. Its really stupid. I have a good face with arched brows, almost always half lidded eyes, a good nose, and full lips that are pretty much always in a half grin. You don't want to be around me when it's in a frown. No tattoos, only three piercings, all of which are in the ears, and a fondness for feather earrings. I'm not a real girly girl, but I like feathers. That's pretty much the only jewelry you'll find out one. Well except for both of my brothers' dog tags. But you can't really call that jewelry.

I'm also a raised army brat. Well….sort of. When I was seven my parents went on a permanent honeymoon with God and my two older brothers raised me. One overseas in the army and the other was equally MIA with the Special Forces. I didn't know where either were half of the time but truth be told….half the time I didn't think I wanted to know.

Ten months out of the twelve I was lucky to see them. During the time they were home they insisted I could take care of myself, which started lessons on how to kick ass. Now at twenty-two I've left my brothers, their career choices, and Texas behind. My search for work that fits my areas of skill has brought me to one of the last places I would have expected to end up; Trenton, New Jersey.

After spending most of my life in a small town in Texas, Trenton was a completely new world. Big hair, junk food, and crime out the ass. Lovely isn't it? But it was exciting as well. The crime meant a big demand on law enforcers of all kinds. My kind of job. Okay so, I might be a bit of a adrenaline junkie but as long as I don't get myself or those around me killed then it's not a problem.

So this search of adrenaline and a job brought me to Trenton. Didn't take long get a few minor jobs with some local bail bondsmen. I tell you bail bondsmen in Trenton are a breed of their own. Some are pretty okay, others really make me want to laugh. But since I'm both young and female, they don't tend to give me a job. Sucks really. I mean….its not my fault I'm a girl.

So here I am sitting in my black Jag watching a house across from the alley I was sitting in. Okay so a Jag really isn't the kind of car I needed to be in when in the Burg but, I was a bit beyond caring when it came to my car. The Jag was bough and fully paid for by my brothers and I wasn't bound to give it up for nothing.

I was currently watching the house of a FTA that I had recently picked up from a local bail bondsman by the name Vinnie Plum. They ran two other bounty hunters, one of which was his cousin and the other was a street smart security expert who was fond of being called Ranger. That was all good and dandy but with one of his hunters working other jobs, the cases kind of stacked up. Hearing about me from another bondsman, Vinnie had given me a call and assigned me a few FTAs. Nothing really big but by the time I was down, I'd have more money in my pocket then I did at the moment. That was always a plus.

My current bounty was a man by the name of Louie Baxley. Forty-five, muscled bulk, and a fetish for cutting things up. He had been arrested for assault with a deadly weapon. Vinnie had been wary to give me the case but in the end I guess he decided it was better to send me in then let his cousin handle it. I was good with that since it was ten thousand dollar pay day for me when I brought him in. At the moment I was sitting across from his house, watching him through his open front window as he chugged beer and watched a game on the TV.

Really, some people were just stupid. Sitting there with the front window open so the world could see him. I had to shake my head at him. But hey, the stupid ones made for an easier capture. Didn't hurt that if he kept drinking like that then it wouldn't take much to topple the idiot. Though I didn't like the idea of having that booze smell in my car. Or the possibility for throw up. Though with an extra ten grand in my pocket, new interior wouldn't be a problem.

I lowered my sunglasses as his front door opened and Louie stepped outside, car keys in hand. So the idiot was heading out for a drive after downing eight or nine large cans of beer? How stupid can some people get. I mean if you're vision is blurred, even a little, why drive? I pushed my sunglasses back up, sat back and cranked over my engine as he got in his car and pulled out of his drive.

I was four car lengths behind him as he left the Burg. About six blocks from Hamilton he pulled his car to a stop at the curb and got out. I pulled my Jag in behind him, shut the engine and jumped out. I had my cuffs in my back pocket with a stun gun and pepper spray and had my custom made gun on my left hip. The gun was small, silver with Mother of Pearl in the handle, called The Cricket. It was a six shot revolver that shot special made explosive rounds, that basically shatter on impact, shattering bones and causing a lot of discomfort and pain for the person shot. I loved my gun.

I checked that too before I took off down the street after him. About three yards from him I broke into a run, my boots smacking the pavement. Hearing the boots, Louie rounded on his heel and saw me. Imagine that sight. A small red head, decked out in jean jacket, tank top, jeans, and boots, all in black, and charging right for him.

I don't know if he was scared of me or the sight of a gun on my hip. Whatever it was he took off running. I was fast, but his legs were longer and he wasn't a slouch. I chased him all six blocks to Hamilton, dodging people and keeping him in sight. One more thing about Louie Baxley that should go on the record…..he didn't tie his shoelaces.

I had gained enough ground between us that when he finally tripped over his shoelaces, I took a running leap and crashed into him from behind. I weight a total of a hundred and ten pounds. Not much against muscled brawn like him, but with the running leap and him already tripping mixed with the natural off balance that comes with alcohol consumption, I took him down.

I instantly shoved my knee between his shoulder blades and twisted his arms up behind him. People had stopped to stare at this point, but I didn't care. I had the right to apprehend him and he was worth a good amount of money. I was reaching for my cuffs when I heard my name called. "Candyce?" I looked up from Louie to find Vinnie standing in the door way of an office, Connie, two women, and a man behind him.

"Oh hey, Vinnie." I greeted. Suddenly I found myself sprawling back onto my back as Louie lunged up and tossed me. I cursed lowly in French as my back hit the pavement. Louie turned on me pulling a box cutter from his pants pocket. Damn! If there was one thing that you can always count on to cut and cut deep, it's a sharpened box cutter. I hate box cutters.

Louie lunged for me with that box cutter, a evil gleam to his beady black eyes. Out of the side of my eyes, I saw Vinnie lunge out of the way of the door way yelling, "Ranger!" over his shoulder. No way, no how, was I going to get saved by someone with the name Ranger. Not a chance. Good thing I had put on my steel sole boots that morning.

I waited until Louie was in reach of a kick and aimed a solid one to his pelvic bone. I could feel sometime snap under the blow and Louie hit the ground with a howl of pain. I lunged for him then and it turned into a rolling match of exchanged blows. He landed a few punches, one to my collar bone and another to my stomach, and he landed an nasty cut to my left cheek bone.

I could feel the blood trickling down the side of my face almost instantly. He gave me a shove and I gave him a hard kick to the chin, which caused him to crack his head on the sidewalk. Louie fell still, having been knocked clean out. Good! I shoved him away from me and sat up. I looked down at my shirt finding it sliced up right across the stomach. There was a shallow cut under it. "Lovely. I liked this shirt." I remarked as I got to my feet, dusting off my jeans as I did.

"Candyce!" I looked up as Vinnie came up to me, the man behind him. That must be Ranger. Tall, muscled, Latino in appearance, and sinfully good looking. Yep that had to be him. "Yo. Long time no see, huh, Vinnie?" I remarked with a small grin on my face as I bent over to roll Louie over and cuff his hands behind his back. "You're bleeding!" Connie said coming up behind him. I reached up to my cheek and pulled it back to find my fingers colored red.

"Yeah, I see that. Flesh wound, nothing more." I told her simply with a shrug. Vinnie looked down at Louie. "What to explain this?" he asked. I looked at Louie. "Followed him out of the Burg and when he stopped and got out of his car I ran him down. Chased him six blocks." I told him. Vinnie nudged Louie with the toe of one shiny shoe. "You shouldn't have taken your attention off of him." the man I thought was Ranger said. I looked at him and a grin curved my lips.

"Probably not." I said. My heart was pounding and adrenaline was filling my veins. I felt good at the moment and didn't feel any of my injuries. So for the moment I was good. Now when the adrenaline faded and I was left with the soreness I wouldn't be so good. "I'll give Morelli a call and have him pick him up." one of the women with Connie said. She was tall, white, had brown curly hair, and clearly had to be Vinnie's cousin. I highly doubted the big black woman stuffed into spandex too small for her full body figure, was related to him.

I shook my head and waved a hand at her. "No need. I'll get his butt up and back to my car." I told her. I knew Morelli. I had heard a lot about him and half of what I had heard wasn't the greatest. Just then I felt fingers lift my chin. I looked up into the dark eyes of Ranger as he examined the cut on my cheek. "That will need stitches." he said. "Probably." I remarked. Ranger turned to the curly haired woman. "Call Morelli, I'll take her back to her car." Ranger said.

I made a face before patting him on the chest. "No need Mr. Muscle." I told him before stepping away from him and turning back to Louie who was coming too. I could feel his eyes on me as I moved away from him. People probably didn't question him all that much but I wasn't about to be bossed around. Too stubborn you know.

"Come on. Up and at 'em." I said hauling him to his feet. Louie staggered on his feet but I kept him up. "I'll be by later with the body receipt." I told Vinnie as I pushed Louie ahead of my. "Have fun!" I called over my shoulder with a two finger salute. "Be careful for chrissakes!" Vinnie called. I turned and looked over my shoulder with a grin. "Careful? As much as possible." I replied. With that I took off dragging my FTA with me.

END

Well I hope you all liked the first chapter. I will try to get the next chapter up as soon as possible. So please enjoy and review and I'll be back soon. Good bye!


	2. Partners

Author Note:

Hello everyone! I'm back with the second chapter. Sorry it took so long. A lot of things popped up, but excuses, excuses. Things happen. But I finally got it done anyway. So that doesn't really matter. Anyway here's the new chapter so please enjoy and review. I do not own anything Stephanie Plum related including the novels.

Chapter 2 Partners

With the ten grand in my checking account and seventeen stitches in my cheek I slept easily that night. I was up by seven the next morning. "Morning, Houdini." I called as I walked into my kitchen. Houdini was my five month old cat.

She was a small, calico tabby with green eyes who was currently curled up on the cushion of one of my steel and cushion barstools. I name her Houdini because of an uncanny knack she had for being able to get out of my locked bathroom while I was gone during the day.

No matter what I did she was out of the bathroom by the time I got home, everyday. My little Houdini. Houdini popped her head up to peer at me over the edge of my black granite counter top. I pulled out her two food bowls, filling one with wet cat food and the second with milk.

I sat the two on the floor for her. Houdini jumped down from the barstool, winding herself around my ankles with a purr before going to her food.

I smiled at the small cat. "Eat up." I told her before I turned to my fridge. I wasn't really one for fatty foods or junk food. I ate healthy and generally my breakfast consisted of whole wheat beagles, fruit, and plain black coffee. No sugar or cream thank you.

For this morning I would settle for a bowl of plain, no sugar added cereal with fruit sliced into it and skim milk. I matched it with a mug of black coffee. And when I finished I rinsed the dishes and stuck them in the dishwasher. By then it was seven thirty.

I showered quickly changed into a low scoop neck tank top, jeans, and jacket. All in black as usual. What can I say? Black is very slimming and this way….I didn't have to try to match clothes. My color palette was very limited.

Black, grey and white and that was it. Maybe the occasional brown but that was about it. Me and color coordination don't do well together. Even my apartment and everything in it, is black and white with a shade of grey or brown mixed in.

I tugged at my jacket sleeves checking the knives sheathed on my wrist before checking the gun at my hip. I made sure I had what I needed, grabbed my keys, and bid farewell to Houdini. I made sure I locked up and headed off down the outdoor stairs that led from my front door down to the ground.

The trip from my secluded apartment to Hamilton took longer then I liked but you pretty much got caught in traffic unless you were out at four in the morning. Not one of Trenton's more appealing traits, but survivable none the less. I was on my way to Vinnie's office.

He had told me with I turned over the body receipt yesterday, that he had some more cases for me that were too big for his cousin and too small for his prized Ranger. I suppose money is money in the end. It was eight on the nose when I pulled to a stop at the curb in front of the office.

A red Firebird and an old '53 Buick was already there. I glanced at the two cars as I got out of mine. The Firebird was pretty okay. Though the red was way too bright of a color for me. The Buick on the other hand had a charm all of its own. I guess I just really like old cars. Sue me alright.

When I pushed open the door I was greeted with the sight of Connie, Vinnie's filing clerk, Lula, and Stephanie Plum sitting around the office with doughnuts. "Yo." I greeted with a two finger wave. "Oh, hey Candyce." Connie greeted.

"Vinnie said he had some cases for me." I told her as I leaned back on the edge of her desk. "Right. I'll get them for you." she told me as she got up and vanished into Vinnie's office for the files. I turned to Lula and Stephanie.

"So who's Buick?" I asked jabbing a thumb towards the door. Stephanie heaved a sigh. "Mine." she said. I raised an eyebrow. "You sound depressed about it. That's a classic. Has a charm of it's own." I said. "Yeah well I'm only driving it because my Maxima got blown up." Stephanie replied. I had to work hard not to flat out grin. I let out a low whistle. "Bad car karma?" I asked. Stephanie and Lula both nodded.

"Sucks." I remarked. Just then the door to the office opened again and in walked Ranger. He looked over the three of us in the office. "Hey Ranger." Stephanie greeted, Lula fanning herself with one hand out of view of Ranger. "Yo." I greeted with a two finger salute when he looked at me. The guy really was God's gift to women.

Well not something I needed. Twenty-two years of no physical contact with males other then hugs and wrestling with my brothers and father. I stood firmly in virgin territory and wasn't planning on moving out of it anytime soon. No matter how tempting the morsel. Doesn't hurt to look though, right? "Your Jag?" he asked glancing over his shoulder.

Through the windows I could see a black Porsche Turbo parked next to my Jag. "Yeah. Last year's birthday present from my brothers." I told him. Lula let out a whistle. "I'd love to have me some brothers like that." she remarked. I shrugged.

"They're okay….when they're around." I replied. The door behind Connie's desk opened then and Vinnie and Connie walked out, Connie carrying some files in her arms. "Here you go." Connie said handing the files to me. "All pretty good sized bonds." she told me as I started flipping through them. I stopped at the last one.

"Decklin Checlowski? I heard about him." I said looking up at Connie and Vinnie, waving the file in my hand as I did. "That's not a 'pretty good sized' bond. This is major cash and a major bad guy." I added. Decklin Checlowski was thirty-three. He was six feet and three inches of muscled, hard trained, ex-military male.

He was pretty good looking, though I can think of a few other men that look a lot more appealing. Morelli and Ranger to name a few. His hair was sun-bleached blonde, buzzed short, he had strong features, and dark green eyes some women would call bedroom eyes. Defiantly not bad looking and had a smirk to kill.

The down side? The man was a grade A sadist. He had a preferred type of women and any woman he met who fit that type, always ended up chained to a bed. There begin the torture which ended in rape and murder.

But no one had been able to pin the murders and rapes on him. The only reason he had been arrested this time was for incident where he ran over a man he had a disagreement with. In the end the only thing they could pin on him was Vehicular Manslaughter. The bail had been set at one million.

"This guy is ex-military, ruthless, a sadist above all else, and favors a crow bar to the face." I said looking at Vinnie. Not much of an argument seeing how I favored a gun with shattering bullets meant to break bones. I was surprise he had given me the case and not Ranger.

"That case is for you….and Ranger." Vinnie said. At this I looked at Ranger. He didn't look surprised, then again I had seen enough military mask to know that you can't always believe what you see. I turned my eyes back to Vinnie.

"Why partner us?" I asked. "You two both have back grounds in military." Vinnie remarked. At this I tugged on the tags hanging around my neck. I glanced out of the side of my eyes at Ranger, who I found, was watching me as well. I instantly dropped the tags and turned back to Vinnie.

"Sending in a normal bounty hunter won't work. If anyone can find him and haul his ass in, it's the two of you." Vinnie replied. Well that was true. I personally may not be military trained by my brothers had trained me well. I had been a fast learner. I looked back down at the file in my hand, looking at the picture tacked to the front. One hundred thousand to be split between me and Ranger if we brought him in. That meant fifty thousand for me alone. I could do a lot with a fifty thousand.

Ranger took the file from my hand and looked it over himself. "This isn't your run-of-the-mill felon. He'll have tricks of the trade and will know how to cover his tracks." Ranger remarked. "He hasn't let up training since his discharge and none of the charges brought up against him have made any head way." he added.

"All his victims either go missing are suddenly find themselves in a body bag." I remarked. "You said he favors a crowbar to the face?" Stephanie asked drawing my eyes to her. "Yes. Most of his victims have been women. Younger, usually in their twenties, physically fit, very attractive, typically red haired." I told her.

"Each of them had a broken jaw or cheek bone from a swing with a crow bar. Among various other injuries." I added. Stephanie grimaced. "And you want to send her in!?" Lula said pointing to me. Oh right….I fit Checlowski's type. I tugged on the end of my red hair, which was currently pulled over one shoulder and tied under my ear. I looked at it before dropping it. I might consider dying my hair.

Vinnie ignored Lula and looked at me and Ranger. "Well will you two take it?" he asked. I shrugged. "I don't know about him, but either way I'll take it. Partner or no partner." I said getting to my feet. "Thanks for the skips, Connie." I said turning to leave. I could feel Ranger's eyes on me as I walked out of the office.

I was just opening the door of my Jag, when he walked out of the office. "Are you serious about doing this?" he asked coming to a stop beside me as I slid into my seat and closed my door. "Perfectly." I told him as I sat my bag beside me and started my car. "I'm not hurting for money but it wouldn't hurt to have it." I added.

I looked up at Ranger as I picked up my sunglasses and put them on. "You'll become his target the moment he sees you." Ranger remarked. I grinned as I pushed my sunglasses up on my nose. "I'm counting on it." I remarked.

I could just barely see the corners of his mouth twitch up in the beginnings of a smile. "Are you partnering with me or not?" I asked. Ranger reached out snatching my phone from the breast pocket of my jacket. He typed something in and then put something in his phone. When he was done he dropped my phone into my hands.

"I'll call you when I'm done with my work. We'll work out a game plan then." he told me before stepping back away from my door. I slipped my phone back into its spot with a grin. "I'll be waiting then." I remarked. "You really shouldn't be doing this." he remarked. My grin grew. "Don't worry about it Robin Hood." I told him simply.

"Besides, don't you know?" I said as I threw my car in reverse. I looked up at him and gave him a grin. "Red heads have all the fun." I added giving him a two finger salute before backing out of my parking place and taking off.

-0-0-0-0-

By fun, I didn't mean this. "Dumbass!" Okay I was angry. That's pretty much the only time I call anyone anything like dumbass. As it was I was extremely pissed off. Wouldn't pretty much everyone be after getting shot? Yes I said shot.

One of my skips I had picked up that morning was a man in his thirties who had been arrested on an assault charge. So naturally….he had a gun on hand when I showed up. I probably should have seen that one coming but then again that was why I wore my bullet-proof vest. It just happened that he got lucky.

The first bullet hit the vest, the second hit the vest., the third…hit me in my left arm. The little jerk got lucky! And he also got a reward….my fist in his face. I really hate jerks who shoot women. Yes I was there to arrest him but really? It was rude. Needless to say, when I dropped him off at the police station, he was out cold.

Surprisingly, Stephanie was at the police station when I got there. Well not to surprising since she's dating a cop. "Yo, Plum." I greeted her from where I sat on a bench. One of the cops had called a medic to come in to look at the gun shot wound on my arm. Stephanie about freaked out when she saw me. "You got shot!?" she asked, her boyfriend, Morelli behind her.

I shrugged. "Derek Nakolski, assault with a deadly weapon. He had the weapon on him when I came by. Got off three shots. Two to my vest and one to my arm. I'm fine." I told her. Stephanie didn't look convinced.

"Its just a flesh wound. Nothing serious. The bullet tore through some muscle and went right back out. I'll be fine." I told her. Stephanie frowned. "You sound like Ranger." she remarked. I couldn't help a snort of laughter. "You're a funny lady." I told her as I got to my feet. I thanked the medic and grabbed my jacket.

I pat Stephanie as I passed her. "Have fun, Plum. See you tomorrow." I told her giving her a wave as I left the station. When I reached my car I found Ranger leaning against it. He raised an eyebrow when he saw the bandages on my arm. "Derek Nakolski, assault with deadly weapon. First two hit the vest, last one was lucky." I told him as I threw my jacket in the car.

"You sure it was lucky?" he asked. I turned to look at him. "You're about as funny as Stephanie." I told him. "Any reason you're here?" I asked. "You didn't answer your phone." he replied. "Oh right….my phone. About that…." I turned to him with a grin.

"I kind of lost that in the scuffle with Nakolski. He stepped out it." I finished. Ranger stared me for a moment and I could swear he was fighting back laughter. "Yeah I'm a real killer on my cell phones. I saved the memory chip though, so I still have your number." I told him as I opened my car door.

"I'll text you the new number tomorrow." I added as I slipped into my seat and closed the door. "I'm free after lunch tomorrow, so give me a call when you get the new phone and we can met up to make a plan." he told him as I started my car.

"Got it." I told him before looking up at him. "I'll see what information I can dig up on him tonight. Connie didn't have an really good information on him." I told him. It wasn't much, but I did have sources of my own. Ranger nodded. "Then I'll see you tomorrow." I added. Ranger stepped back and let me pull out. I would be logging onto my computer tonight.

END

Author Note:

Well there you all go. I'm already working on the next chapter so hopefully it won't take as much time to finish this one. So I'll let you all enjoy and review and will get to work on the next chapter. So I hope you all like the chapter and I'll be back soon. Bye!


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